Aqua Fair
by The Silver Magician of Chaos
Summary: When Aqua is denied the ability to go to the ball, only her Fairy Godmother, Aerith, can help. Based off of Cinderella. *A story made just for my friend RedDiEnd*
1. Bad Beginning

Chapter One: Bad Beginning

Once upon a time in a far away land, there was a tiny kingdom. Peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Here in a stately chateau, there lived a widowed gentleman named Zack Fair, and his little daughter Aqua.

Zack loved his daughter but he felt that she needed a mother's care and so he married again. He married a woman named Larxene who had two daughters just Aqua's age. Their names were Yuna and Rikku.

Aqua had a fair complexion and water-blue hair. Yuna had a pale complexion with short brown hair and greenish blue eyes. RIkku was blond with her hair in many braid, but they were pulled into one big pony tail and green eyes.

"Hi." Aqua said on Yuna and Rkkku's first day at the chateau. "I'm Aqua. Who are you two?"

"I'm Yuna." Yuna said with a slight wave.

"And _I _am Rikku." Rikku said in a boastful voice.

"Humility, Rikku..." Larxene stated simply. She had blond hair and a complexion almost similar to Aqua's.

"Oh sorry, Mother dear." Rikku said as her voice suddenly became very respectful.

"Hi Step Mother." Aqua said to Larxene. "I hope we can get along."

"Me too dear." Larxene said with a smile.

"Come on kiddo." Zack said with a smile as he walked up. "How about we feed Axel?"

"Okay!" Aqua said excitedly. She loved Axel as well as their young female puppy, Tifa.

"Can I do that too?" Yuna asked Larxene.

"Oh no." Larxene said calmly. "I'm afraid you have to unpack."

()()()()()

As Zack and Aqua left, Rikku dropped her pretense for a bit.

"Who the heck would want to get near those smelly animals?" Rikku asked rhetorically.

"Manners, dear." Larxene reminded Rikku.

"Yes Mother." Rikku said as she knew she had to keep up the pretense of being a goody-goody.

()()()()()

It was upon the untimely death of this good man however, that the step-mother's true nature was revealed. Cold... and cruel... and bitterly jealous of Aqua's charm and beauty, she was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awful daughters.

"Father..." Aqua cried at Zack's bedside.

"Hmph." Larxene groaned softly.

"Ugh, can we move the body already?" Rikku asked in outraged disgust. "It's starting to reek!"

"Hey!" Aqua snapped in the heat of the moment. "He's your step-father! How can you be so heartless?"

"Easy." Rikku said with an arrogant smirk. "He's not around anymore."

"But Step-Daddy Zack is right there." Yuna pointed out simply as she pointed to Zack's dead body.

"His spirit has gone from this world, child so in that sense, he's no longer here." Larxene said impatiently before turning to Aqua. "You, girl, pick yourself up off the floor and start sweeping in here; there's entirely too much dust."

"You... You never acted this way when Father was alive!" Aqua said angrily. After a long pause, she added, "You tricked him into marrying you, didn't you?"

Larxene slapped Aqua across the cheek.

"Don't talk back to your elders about things that you don't understand." Larxene said calmly but sharply. "Now go on. Get moving. And change into something else more appropriate for work, you'll get that dress all filthy."

()()()()()

Thus, as the years went by, the chateau fell into disrepair. For the family fortunes were squandered on the vain and selfish step-sisters while Aqua was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house. And yet... through it all... Aqua continued to remain ever gentle and kind and held onto the hope that one day soon, her dreams of happiness would come true.

* * *

Chaos: SURPRISE! I hope this surprise story, i manage to pull is good here my friends!

Iris: Not only that but we are happy to welcome a new friend as well!

Surane: Come on out, Drew!

Drew: Its nice to be here... *blushes*

Hikari: In hounor of being here you can take it away!

Drew: Alight then, Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and I belongs to RedDiEnd.


	2. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Chapter Two: A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Two birds arrived and opened the shades of the tower that was Aqua's room. Aqua was sleeping in a light blue nightgown. They then chirped for her to wake up, but Aqua just turned around in her bed, pillow and all.

They continued to chirp incessantly. One of them got the brilliant idea to chirp at her through the small space between the bed and the pillow but Aqua pulled it down and blocked that off too.

The male bird then chirped on top of the pillow until Aqua brushed against his tail feathers with her fingers, and he chirped in surprise. Aqua then got up and laughed good-naturedly.

"Well serves you right, Spoiling people's best dreams." Aqua said with a smile.

The two birds chirped both joyfully and in indignation as they flew to the window and indicated the beautiful sunrise outside.

"Oh, I know it's a lovely morning but it was a lovely dream too." Aqua Sighed.

The birds chirped questioningly.

"What kind of dream?" Aqua asked.

The birds chirped in affirmative.

"Uh-uh." Aqua said with a smile. "Can't tell."

They chirped a why.

"Because if you tell a wish, it won't come true and after all..."

_A dream is a wish  
Your heart makes.  
When you're fast asleep._

_In dreams, you will lose your heartache._

A red bird tried to sing with her but he was stopped by one of his companions.

_Whatever you wish for, you keep_

The little silver bird finally got a couple notes in and he nodded smugly to his companion who shrugged.

_Have faith in your dreams and someday  
your rainbow will come smiling through._

A mouse in a black-shirt with yellow sleeves and black pants came out and yawned. Two other mice come out too, a red-haired one in a white top and skirt and the other was brown with a black shirt with white jacket and black shorts. The three mice sat down and listened to Aqua.

_No matter how your heart is weeping,  
If you keep on believing,  
The dream that you wish,  
Will come true..._

Everyone was smiling until the clock suddenly chimed.

"Oh that clock!" Aqua grumbled. "Kill joy."

The clock chimed again.

"I hear you." Aqua groaned. "'Come on! Get up!' you say. 'Time to start another day!'" She then turned to the mice. "Even _he_ orders me around." It had been the same ever since her father had passed away.

The reddish female mouse named Iris put her paws on her hips and scowls in a way that says "How dare he?" The smaller Burnett female mouse named Hikari was still smiling until she saw Iris's scowl and then tried to imitate it.

"Well, there is one thing." Aqua said with a hint of a smile. "They _can't_ order me to stop dreaming." She then added wistfully, "And perhaps someday... _a dream that I wish will come true._"

Aqua then hummed as she made her bed and prepared for a shower as Iris shooed all the boy mice away. Aqua then got behind a screen and took her nightgown off as birds dried a cold sponge on her.

"Ah!" Aqua exclaimed. "I've really gotta try and find a way to heat water or something."

The mice then hummed along with Aqua as they got her outfit ready for her to wear, a dark brown shirt with a brown sleeveless dress and white apron. Aqua then put the clothes on and waved at her friends as she brushed her hair.

_No matter how your heart is weeping,  
If you keep on believing,  
The dream that you wish,  
Will... Come... True . . ._

The dark-brown mouse, named Sora, ran in with a black haired mouse named Surane.

"Aqua!" Sora called out. "Aqua! You won't believe what Surane and I found!"

They both began talking so that Aqua can't understand what they were saying.

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down you two." Aqua said calmly. "I can't hear you when you're both talking at once."

They quieted down.

"Now Sora..." Aqua began. "What's all the fuss about?"

"There's another mouse in the house!" Sora explained. "I never saw him before!"

"Oh, a visitor." Aqua said as she opened a drawer and pulled out a frilly, bright pink dress. "Well, she'll need a dress and-"

Sora burst out laughing.

"It's not a she!" Sora said with a smile. "It's a he!"

"Oh, well that's different." Sora said. "He'll need a shirt and a jacket and-"

"Decide on that later!" Surane called out. "Right now, he's in a trap!"

"What?" Aqua said in surprise. "The trap? Well, why didn't you say so?"

She stood up and quickly descended the tower stairs, Victor and Robin following after her as best they could. There are already several mice chattering loudly around a black wire cage and inside was a green mouse.

"Now, now, calm down everyone." Raven advised.

She picked up the cage and opened the door to peer inside. The silver mouse had scampered to the back of the cage and was shaking with fear.

"Oh, the poor thing is scared to death." Aqua observed. "Sora, maybe you should explain things to him."

She put the cage back down on the ground with the door still open.

"You've got it Aqua!" Sora said with a smile.

He entered the cage.

"Hey pal." Sora said kindly.

The mouse took a swing at Sora.

"Whoa take it easy!" Sora said quickly. "We're your pals. Aqua's your pal, I'm your pal, and everyone else here is your pal."

The mouse slowly lowered his fists.

"That's better!" Sora said kindly. "Come on now, let's go say hello."

"Uh... okay." The mouse mumbled.

He was lead out of the trap and he waved at the other enthusiastic mice welcoming him.

"Well, now." Aqua said. "That's much better. Here are some clothes for you."

The mouse put on a black shirt with a yellow jacket and dark purple jeans.

"And I've got a few name ideas." Aqua said. "What do you think of Land?"

"La." The mouse said as he made a face.

"Alright." Aqua said with a chuckle. "Riku."

"Hey, that's a nice name." Sora said. "What do you think, Riku?"

"Riku... Riku... yeah, I like it." Riku said.

"Now I've got to work." Aqua said. "Make sure he stays out of trouble, Sora. Oh, and don't forget to warn him about the cat."

"No problem!" Sora said with a smile. "So uh... have you ever seen a cat?"

"Uh... cat?" Riku asked.

"Yup!" Sora said. "Cat. His name's Vexen." Sora started to imitate a cat stalking after prey. "He's mean... arrogant... sneaky... and will POUNCE ON YOU!" He pounced at Riku who fell onto the stair below as Sorastarted mewling and howling. "So... you got that."

"Uh... no..." Riku said.

"D'oh!" Sora called out agitatedly.

"Could you show me instead?" Riku asked.

"Oh, fine!" Sora said as they went down one of the mouse holes they had made as the chateau became less and less well kept.

()()()()()

In Larxene's room, Raven appeared.

"Vexen?" Aqua asked quietly.

Vexen woke up and went back to sleep.

"Vexen, come here!" Aqua whispered authoritatively.

Annoyed, Vexen walked out of the bedroom, holding himself up as if he was royalty and he gave Aqua a condescending look before yawning widely. Not waiting for him, Aqua closed the door and pushed him the rest of the way out, making him stumble forward before regaining his dignity.

"I'm sorry if His Highness objects to an early breakfast." Aqua said sarcastically. "It's certainly not my (itlcs) idea to feed your first. It's orders... Come on."

()()()()()

Sora and Riku came a little ways out of a mouse hole and watched Aqua and Vexen walking away towards the stairs.

"That's Vexen." Sora said simply.

"That's Vexen?" Riku asked with a laugh. "AHHAHAHA! He's just a stupid cat! I could beat him with one hand behind my back!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sora called out as he grabbed Gar's tail and pulled him back against the wall. "Vexen's not something you want to mess with! Vexen's mean and crafty and..."

()()()()()

Aqua walked down the stairs to the kitchen, Vexen only a few steps behind her. There was a growling sound from the kitchen floor and Vexen stopped short, in instinctive fear. Aqua opened the top part of the door to the yard and light shone through on the form of a massive dog growling and snarling a little in her sleep. Aqua walked over to the big dog until her shadow stretches across her body.

"Tifa?" Aqua whispered.

The dog's growls became louder and her legs started moving quicker as if she was chasing something.

"Tifa!" Aqua called out.

The dog seized an end of the rug she was sleeping on before she realized that Aqua had said her name and she woke up from the dream. She let go of the rug as she gracefully stood up, stretching her elegant but powerful legs as she did so, the sunlight playing happily across her illustrious jet-black fur.

"Dreaming again." Aqua observed. "Were you chasing Vexen?" Tifa nodded. "Catch him this time?"

The dog continued to nod but there was a proud air about her.

"That's bad." Aqua said in a suddenly sharp and disapproving voice.

Tifa stopped nodding and looked shocked while Vexen snickered in his darkened corner.

"Suppose they heard you upstairs." Aqua explained. "You know the orders. So if you don't want to lose a nice warm bed, you better get rid of those dreams. Know how?"

Tifa shook her head.

"Just learn to like cats." Aqua explained.

Tifa groaned as she looked at a snickering Vexen while Aqua prepared the breakfast trays for Larxene, Rikku, and Yuna.

"No, I mean it." Aqua continued. "Vexen has his good points too."

Secure in his safety and "superior class" as the head mistress's pet, Vexen padded over to Tifa with a smug smile on his feline face and rubbed up against her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to retaliate without getting in trouble.

"For one thing he..." Aquz began.

She stopped, not knowing what to say. Tifa noticed the close proximity between herself and Vexen and pulled away from him as much as she dared without leaving her spot, snorting at him in disgust. She was a top predator, one who could take down a moose, and she knew it. She could make her own kills to feed herself should the need arise and she had no tolerance for those lesser creatures who fed themselves with small rodents. Such "predators" often served as her play things and Vexen was just _asking_ to be put in his place with his cocky attitude.

"Hmm... there must be_ something _good about him." Aqua mused.

Vexen's ears flattened against his head as he glared at Aqua's back and Vexen started making the canine equivalent of a laugh at how even her mistress, the nicest girl in the world, couldn't come up with something good to say about Vexen.

Vexen then smirked and lay on his back as he scratched Tifa's face. Tifa roared a warning, and Vexen howled in fear.

"Tifa!" Aqua called out in shock. "You naughty dog. What would Father say if he saw that? You remember him. The man who took you in when you were just a stray puppy?"

Tifa put her head down as she thought about her master.

"Come on, girl." Aqua said as she opened the lower half of the door. "Outside."

Tifa glumly walked outside.

"I know it isn't easy, but at least we should try to get along together." Aqua explained as Mel lied down on the dirt road.

Aqua then turned to Tifa.

"And that includes you, your majesty!" Aqua said angrily.

Aqua then set a bowl of cream down as she walked to where they kept the corn for the livestock.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	3. Breakfast Time

Chapter Three: Breakfast Time

"Breakfast time!" Aqua called out as she walked onto the field. "Everybody up! Come on and hurry!"

The male mice and female mouse, including the newest addition, Riku, peeked out one of their many mouse holes and watched with excitement as Aqua started scattering corn kernels about the yard and the chickens flew out of their coops to go eat.

"Come on everybody!" Sora called out. "Let's go eat!"

"Breakfast!" Surane called out. "Breakfast!"

"Yeah, breakfast!" Riku called out. "I haven't eaten in ages, it seems!"

"Come on Riku!" Sora said as he took Riku's paw. "Stop talking about it and let's go fill some empty stomachs!"

They went down and come out of a mouse hole, but they stopped dead when they saw Vexen there.

"Uh-oh!" Sora groaned. "Vexen! Now how can we get out?"

They went back into the mouse hole, with Sora pulling Riku in by the back of his shirt.

"Alright guys, listen up." Sora said. "I've got an idea. One of us has gotta sneak out, get Vexen to chase him, run over to that corner with the broom and keep him there while we all grab some breakfast."

"Sounds great!" Riku called out.

"Alright everybody, you know the drill!" Sora called out.

Sora, Riku, and Surane turned their backs to each other as their tails wrapped around each other's tails. Sora then grabbed a tail at random.

"Okay, split!" Sora called out.

Surane and Riku walked off as Sora ended up plucking at his own tail.

"Eh?" Sora said weakly.

"Congratulations Sora!" Riku called out as he shook Sora's hand.

"We'll miss you, man." Surane said sadly.

"Mm..." Sora groaned.

Sora waved a feeble goodbye before shaking his head and taking on a determined face as he strode to the entrance of the mouse hole. He stepped out quietly and slid along the wall for a great majority of the way. Surane and Riku watched apprehensively as Sora got closer to Vexen. Once close enough, Sora tip-toed towards the cat and managed to get right up next to him without the big feline noticing him. He looked at the bowl of cream and then up at Vexen's bored face, quickly getting an idea. Through some gestures, he shared his idea with Surane, who nodded vigorously, and Riku, who didn't get it at first but then burst out laughing only to be silenced by Surane clapping her hand over his mouth. With an almighty kick, Sora's foot connected with Vexen's propped up elbow and it slipped out from under Vexen as his face fell smack dab into the bowl of cream.

"ROOOAARRRRR!" Vexenroared.

"Whoa boy!" Sora called out as he rushed off to the corner as Vexen chased him, and he made it into a little mouse hole. He then appeared through another, higher up, mouse hole and gave everyone the thumbs up.

()()()()()

Surane and Riku snuck outside while Vexen was distracted and they headed straight for where Aqua was feeding the animals and humming to herself. They started shouting at her to get her attention.

"Oh, there you are." Aqua said when she saw them. "I was wondering. Alright, breakfast is served."

She tossed some corn kernels in their direction and Surane took a decent amount, enough for each mouse in the house to have at least half a kernel. She was quick enough to take her amount and leave while Riku had just stared at the pile too long because that was when the chickens arrived and started pecking at what Surane hadn't taken. Riku was having a hard time just snatching one. He finally managed to grab one just as a chicken did.

"HEY LET GO!" Riku shouted. "LET GO!"

"SHOO!" Aqua shouted as the chickens scattered. "Shame on you. Who knows when the poor fellow ate last? Here you go, Riku, breakfast is served."

Riku starred at the large amount of corn and he starred lovingly at it. He then collected the whole lot and used his chin to help keep it there as he walked unsteadily back to the house.

()()()()()

Meanwhile, Surane had made her way back to the entrance and waved at Sora to alert him of her presence. Sora saw this and pulled off the black jacket he was wearing. He stuck his tail through one of the sleeves and waved it around from the other hole in the wall to get Vexen's attention to distract him. Vexen jumped at the opportunity and started scratching at the hole but Sora had already pulled his tail back in and pulled his jacket back on as he waved Surane on ahead. Surane scampered ahead and Riku came after her, following at only a brisk walk because of all the food he was carrying. As Surane was running, she lost her grip on one of the corn kernels and dropped it. She abandoned it; not wanting to be caught by Vexen but Riku stopped and stared at it. Surane had already made it back to the safe hole when Riku decided to try and add that kernel to his already-large pile as he placed his own on top of the new one, and tried to pick it up. However, it was simply one too many and all but one of the corn kernels went flying out of his paws and landed with a clatter all around him on the floor. The noise distracted Vexen's attention from the hole and he saw Riku trying to recollect his corn kernels at the same time as Sora.

"Uh-oh." Sora groaned. "Not good."

Sora waved his jacket in front of Vexen, but he ignored it and continued onwards.

"Oh man." Sora groaned as he grabbed some of Vexen's fur, but it got pulled out.

"Oh no!" Sora called out.

Riku tried to get the last kernel, but he ended up dropping them again.

"Darn it all!" Riku called out.

Vexen crouched down and started sneaking over towards Riku, licking his chops in anticipation at this unexpected meal.

In a last ditch attempt, Sora grabbed Vexen's tail, and again, only got a pawful of fur.

"Oh man! I can't look!" Sora groaned.

Riku suddenly got the bright idea to use his teeth to help him carry the load and he finally managed to carry them all. He turned around only to walk right into Vexen's face. Vexen growled in triumph, showing his teeth.

"AHH!" Riku screamed out.

He dropped all the kernels and attempted to run away but Vexen pinned him in place by putting his paw on his tail and just as he was about to land the killing blow, Sora pushed over the broom and it landed on Vexen, forcing him to let go of Riku, who quickly ran away. Sora looked around and couldn't find Riku.

"Hm... No Riku." Sora mused. "Well, I guess he got away." Sora then headed back upstairs.

()()()()()

Vexen saw an outline of the mouse climbing the tablecloth. He finished climbing to the top of the table and rested against a teacup as he panted heavily, not seeing Vexen's evil eyes staring at him from the other side of the table. Suddenly, the cup was moved away and he fell onto the dish the cup was sitting on at the same time that the cup came upside down on top of him. Grinning like there was no tomorrow, Vexen lifted the cup a little, ready to snatch the mouse from underneath... when the first bell rang and Yuna's voice was heard from upstairs.

"Aqua!" Aqua's voice rang out.

"Coming!" Aqua called out as she went over and set the trays and put two more upside down cups down, and Vexen came back up confused. He looked at one cup then another and snickered as he was about to pick up the last one when another bell rang.

"Aqua!" Rikku's voice called out.

"I'm coming." Aqua continued.

Aqua put the cups on the trays. She then went to get the kettle as Vexen got back up. But now, he didn't know where the mouse was. He picked up the mouse's cup first as well as the one next to it and looked inside the cups. He then put them back down and checked the last one before realizing that the mouse was under the first cup. He smiled maliciously as he grabbed the first cup when the bells rang... again.

"AQUA!" Rikku shouted out.

"In a minute!" Aqua countered.

Vexen reluctantly went back under the table as she poured hot water into the teapots. Now all three bells were ringing and Aqua left. Vexen eagerly came back up... only to see that the only thing on the table was the kettle of hot water. Vexen then snuck after Aqua and looked at the trays as Riku snuck a peak out of the right-hand tray. Vexen then smirked and went up as Aqua's shoe dropped off her foot, which was fairly easy considering that her shoes were old ones that belonged to Rikku, who's feet were about four times bigger than hers. She turned around and put her foot back in her shoe as Vexen grabbed the wrong tea cup and found nothing. Aqua then went into Rikku's room.

"Good morning Rikku." Aqua said kindly. "Sleep well?"

"Hmph." Rikku scoffed. "Like _you _care. Take that ironing and have it back in an hour! That's _one_ hour.

"Yes Rikku." Aqua said patiently.

Aqua came out holding a bundle of ironing in her left hand. Vexen looked in to find the mouse and got hit in the nose by the door. Aqua went to the next room and Vexen followed.

"Good morning Yuna." Aqua said in the same tone she greeted Yuna with.

"Well, it's about time." Yuna scoffed. "Don't forget the mending and don't be all day about getting it done either."

"Yes, Yuna ." Aqua answered dryly.

She closed the door just as Scat was about to sneak in and again, the door hits his nose. He listened for any sign but Aqua had already arrived at his mistress' door.

"Well come in child, come in." Larxene said.

"Good morning Stepmother." Aqua said the same way she greeted Rikku and Yuna.

"Pick up the laundry and get on with it." Larxene said calmly.

"Yes, Stepmother." Aqua finished.

One more time, Vexen went to enter and hit his nose on the now-closed door. Aqua now has no more trays as she walked down the stairs. Vexen pressed his ear against the door but still heard nothing and grumbled about it... until he heard a scream and the sound of breaking glass from Yuna's room. He jumped up and bounded excitedly over to her room and caught the mouse in his outstretched paws with a greedy smile as Yuna began to shout for her mother and Aqua started making her way back up the stairs.

"Yuna, what is it?" Aqua asked as Yuna ran out.

"You did it!" Yuna called out. "You did it to me on purpose!"

"What?" Aqua asked.

"Mother!" Yuna whined. "Oh Mother! Mother! Mother!"

She ran to Larxene's room. Rikku came out of her room looking accusatory.

"Now what did you do?" Rikku asked as she too ran into Larxene's room.

"She put a big ugly mouse under my teacup!" Yuna called out.

The door closed and, though shocked, Aqua looked down at Vexen and started tapping her foot.

"Alright, Vexen." Aqua said calmly but authoritatively. "What did you do with him?"

Vexen lifted his paws and smiled as they revealed nothing.

"Come on, where is he?" Aqua asked.

Vexen shook his head, and Aqua smirked.

"Oh you're not hiding anything from me." Aqua said as she grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up onto his hind legs. "Come on." Aqua said. "Lift up your paws."

Vexen lifted up one leg and smiled in a way that said "See? He's not there."

"Now the other one." Aqua continued.

Vexen hesitated and she shook him slightly.

"Come on." Aqua continued.

Vexen bared his teeth as he lifted up the other paw and revealed the mouse curled up in a little ball beneath him.

"Oh, poor little Riku." Aqua said kindly.

Riku looked at Vexen being lifted and rushed off.

"Whoa!" Riku called out.

"Phew." Aqua sighed.

"Aqua!" Larxene called out.

"Yes Stepmother." Aqua said dryly as she walked in.

Vexen's expression goes from sour to ecstatic as he bounded over to Larxene's room and slid in past Larxene's daughters who looked rather smug.

()()()()()

"Aren't you gonna go get it." Rikku said like a school girl on the playground.

"Close the door, Aqua." Larxene said calmly.

Aqua closed the door and Rikku and Yuna pushed each other around a bit to get a turn to see into the keyhole and see what was going on.

()()()()()

"So..." Larxene began. "It appears we have some spare time on our hands. Spare time for practical jokes."

"It wasn't a joke." Aqua said calmly in defense. "I didn't even know a mouse was-"

"Quiet!" Larxene called out sharply. "Now, perhaps we can put all that energy to better use. There's a large carpet in the main hall. Clean it! And the windows upstairs. Wash them!"

Vexen nodded affirmatively in emphasis with each new chore that Aqua received.

"Oh yes." Larxene said with a dark smile. "And the tapestries. And the draperies."

"But I just finish-" Aqua again.

"Do them again!" Larxene snapped back, and Aqua fell silent.

"And don't forget to scrub the terrace, sweep the halls and the stairs, clean the chimneys, and of course, there's the mending, and the sewing, and the laundry." Larxene paused as she took a sip of tea. "Oh yes, and one more thing. See to it that Vexen gets his bath."

Vexen looked positively mortified at the thought.

"Yes Stepmother." Aqua said in a defeated voice when Yuna burst in.

"Ha!" Yuna called out. "That'll teach you to put a silver mouse in my tea cup!"

"A what?" Larxene asked.

"A silver mouse." Yuna repeated.

"Well…" Aqua said as she saw a way to at least get out of cleaning the drapes and tapestries since she'd already done them. "Maybe you should have slept for another few minutes."

"What are you talking about?" Yuna snapped. "I was wide awake, and there was a silver mouse in… a shirt and… pants… In my . . . tea . . . cup."

"Well, seeing as how there appears to have only been Yuna's foolish imagination in that cup, forget about the tapestries and drapes since you said you did them, and you don't lie, but I still expect you to do all your extra chores."

"Of course Stepmother." Aqua said calmly. She'd probably end up doing those things anyway.

()()()()()

Back at where the mouse hung out, Riku was sitting down with his head in his hands.

"Oh, I screwed up." Riku groaned.

"Don't worry." Sora said comfortingly. "That old witch would have found a reason to make Aqua do that extra stuff anyway."

Riku smiled weakly, but he feared he still hadn't done a very good job as a friend on his first morning there.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	4. A Plan for the Prince

Chapter Four: A Plan for the Prince

Meanwhile at the castle the king and queen, Roxas and Namine, were talking to the Grand Duke, Hayner.

"No questions about it!" Namine shouted as she threw her crown through one of the windows. "Our son has been avoiding his responsibilities long enough. It's high time he married and settled down.

"Of course Your Majesties." Hayner said nervously. "But you must be patient."

"I _AM_ patient!" Namine shouted as she threw an ink bottle at Hayner who dived out of the way again.

"Now dear, take it easy." Roxas said patiently.

Namine sat back down and sighed.

"You're right, dear." Namine said. "I'm sorry Hayner, but Roxas and I are not getting any younger, you know. I want to see my grandchildren before I go.

"I understand Sires." Hayner said sympathetically.

"No." Namine said sadly. "No, you don't know what it's like to see your only child grow farther and farther away." She gestured to a picture of younger versions of herself and Roxas with a baby on Namine' lap with Roxas's blue eyes and spiky blond hair. She then pointed to a painting a little later on when the boy is a child and being carried via piggyback by Roxas. The last picture is the same lad but full-grown and sitting astride a magnificent white horse as a white dog is barking next to him.

"Roxas and I are lonely in this old, desolate palace." Namine explained. "I... I want to hear the pitter-patter of little feet again."

She cried on Roxas's shoulder.

"There, there dear." Roxas said calmly.

"Now, now, Your Majesty, maybe if we just let him alone-" Hayner began before Namine cut him off.

"Let him alone?" Namine snapped.

"Oh boy." Roxas said as he rubbed his temples.

Namine grabbed Hayner and shoved him away with surprising strength for a woman of her age.

"What and leave him with these-these romantic ideas?"

"Of course Your Majesty!" Hayner continued calmly. "You see in matters of love-"

"Love, hah!" Namine called out. "It's just a boy meeting a girl under the right conditions. So we _arrange_ the conditions. It worked for me and Roxas."

"That is true." Roxas admitted.

"But Your Majesties," Hayner objected. "If the prince should suspect-"

"Suspect?" Namine asked. "Ha! How? The boy's coming home today, isn't he?"

"Why-Why-Why yes Sire!" Hayner said nervously.

"Well, what could be more natural than a ball to celebrate his return?" Namine asked.

"N-N-N-Nothing Sire!" Hayner said as he began to fear for the continued relationship his head had with his shoulders, called his neck.

"And if all the eligible maidens in our kingdom should just _happen_ to be invited, he's bound to show interest in one of them, isn't he?" Roxas added as he got a mischievous look in his eyes.

Wally said nothing until Namine grabbed him by his shirt collar.

"Isn't he?" Namine asked again.

"Y-y-y-yes Sire." Hayner agreed.

"And when he finds that girl, we'll have low, soft lights... romantic music... all the trimmings!" Namine said with a smile. "Heh-heh, he can't possibly expect it, can he?"

Hayner had been knocked backwards in his chair and crashed into a suit of armor so that now, the helmet was on his head. He lifts up the visor.

"Y-y-yes- N-n-no sires!" Hayner said. "The prince will never suspect." He then releases the visor. "Actually, when is the ball?"

"Tonight." Namine said.

"T-tonight?" Hayner asked in shock. "Oh, but sire-!"

"Tonight!" Namine insisted. "And see to it that every eligible maiden is there. Understand?"

"Yes, your Majesty." Hayner said glumly through the helmet.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	5. The Message

Chapter Five: The Message

At the chateau, Larxene was doing a music lesson with Yuna and Rikku.

"Prepare sharp 2..." Larxene sang out on-key.

"_Oh..._" Yuna began off-key. "_Oh, sing sweet nightingale! Sing sweet nightingale!_"

Rikku was attempting to play the flute as her sister "sang", and the music she produced was just as bad if not worse than her sister's. Vexen had been lying nearby on the small sofa, taking a nap, but had awoken as soon as the dreadful notes echoed throughout the room. He cringed as if the music, if it could be called that, was physically hurting him, and he pulled a fluffy pink pillow over his ears in a vain attempt to drown out the horrible noise.

"_Hi-i-i-igh above me!_" Yuna continued, still off-key, and sadly better than Rikku usually did. "_Oh... oh, sing sweet nightingale!_"

His sensitive feline ears unable to handle the high, screeching sounds, Vexen bounded out of the room as quick as he could and pushed the door closed with a paw. The "music" was sufficiently muffled to a more manageable pitch, and Vexen sighed with relief after going through that two minute torture.

"_Sing sweet nightingale!_" Yuna continued, though mercifully muffled.

But there was more singing coming from outside the door. It was nothing like the sounds behind the door that were likely to wake the dead, they were so bad. No, these notes were soft, gentle, and on-key. Curiosity got the better of Vexen and his ears led him to see the source at the bottom of the stairs in the main room. Aqua was down there on her hands and knees, a bucket next to her, and a rag in her hand, washing the floor. But she was also the one singing, and it sounded much better, by far, than the horrible dis-configured noises her stepsisters were making and trying to pass off as music.

_Oh sing sweet nightingale.  
Sing sweet nightingale.  
High... Above me._

Vexen silently padded down to the bottom of the stairs and scowled at Aqua's form. She was singing. Granted, it was bliss compared to upstairs a couple seconds ago, but he liked making her life difficult. And she was happy. He didn't like that. He glanced to his right, and his lips curled upward into something like a smile when he saw the dustpan full to the brim of the dust and the dirt that she had swept off the floor before washing. He put his paw in it experimentally, and it puffed up angrily at being disturbed, but Vexen was now forming an idea in his twisted feline mind as he stared at his paw, then grinned evilly in Aqua's direction.

Meanwhile, Aqua, completely unaware of Scat's scheme, still sang to herself as she accidentally pulled out a very large bubble.

_Oh... oh sing, sweet nightingale._

She stared into its soapy reflective surface and noted how she looked like the pictures of her mother her father had had before they disappeared following his death. Right down to her blue eyes and blue hair, hidden under the kerchief, before setting it free and resuming her work.

_Sing sweet... nightingale._

Aqua put the wash cloth in the bucket, and the various reflections of her in the bubbles that came out and the echoing in that old lonely house made it seem like several Ravens were singing.  
_Sing sweet nightingale.  
Sing... Sweet...  
Oh sing sweet... nightingale...  
Sing..._

A very slight glance over in the direction of the stairs startled her out of her singing and she gasped

"Vexen!" Aqua called out angrily. She had always tried to hold in the more negative emotions ever since her stepmother had taken over, but it had been harder ever since that morning. The cat quickly scrambled back to his original place on the stairs, leaving a set of dirty paw prints in his wake, and grinning broadly, very pleased with himself. Aqua looked around, aghast to see that almost the entire floor is covered in the cat-sized paw prints, made by the dust and dirt that she had already swept up. She narrowed her blue eyes at Vexen and threw down her rag with a wet splat.

"You mean stupid cat!" Aqua said heatedly.

She was so angry at him, that she would have been willing to set Tifa on him, and not cared. Normally, she was quite calm, but this was the final straw, and she was going to make him pay this time. Rifa, sensing the danger, but still unable to help but gloat, knocked over the rest of the dirt onto the floor, and proceeded to walk through it and hop away, giving more work for Aqua to do later.

"I'm just gonna have to teach you a lesson," Aqua said as she grabbed the broom, but no sooner had she grabbed it, when she heard a knock on the door, and she was distracted from her current goal of catching Set and punishing him. She wondered who it was. They never had any visitors to the house. Her stepsisters weren't exactly pleasant company. She looked back at Vexen's retreating paw prints, and sighed heavily, before turning in the opposite direction to get the door. She'd get her revenge on Vexen when she had to give him his bath.

A knight appeared.

"A message from the palace." The knight said.

()()()()()

Sora and Riku appeared through another one of the secret mouse holes to catch word of what was going on at the front door.

"An _urgen_t message from their imperial majesties!" The knight rephrased quickly, wanting to make sure he did the job properly, and fumbled to give the envelope to Aqua.

She took it gently from his hands and said, "Thank you," before closing the door behind the blushing young knight.

Sora and Riku immediately scampered from their hiding place. "From the King?" Sora exclaimed, "What's it say?" This was big news if the King sent out a royal proclamation. It almost never happened.

"Yeah, what he said!" Riku said with a jerk of his paw towards Sora. He didn't understand what the big idea was, but Sora's excitement and curiosity was infectious and rubbing off on him.

"I don't know," Aqua said thoughtfully as she stared at the seal on the back of the envelope. "He said it was urgent," she said, wistfully wishing that she could pry it open and read the letter's contents without her stepmother and stepsisters knowing.

Rikku's voice sounded out, worse than Yuna's.

"Ohh... Sing... Sweet... Nightingale!" Rikku shrieked so loudly, that everyone covered their ears.

"Maybe I should interrupt the... 'Music' lesson." Aqua groaned with a slight smile.

"Yes, do that!" Sora pleaded.

As Aqua ascended the stairs with the letter, Sora and Riku disappeared back into their hole, wanting to see what would happen in the room upstairs.

()()()()()

In the upstairs room, Larxene patiently waited for Kitten to finish singing.

"Sing... Sweet... Nightingale! Hi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-igh!" Rikku sang out badly as she flapped her hands like a bird.

Yuna's finger got stuck in one of the flute's holes and she attempted to pull it out, accidentally hitting Rikku's neck and causing the extra 'i' sounds to soar out of Rikku's throat, before Yuna finally got her finger free. It also hit Rikku in the face.

"You clumsy brat!" Rikku shouted.

"Well maybe if you sang on a little something called a key, I would have been able to concentrate!" Yuna shouted back.

"Girls, girls, remember, dignity." Larxene said calmly.

There was a knock on the door that startled her badly.

"WHAT?" Larxene shouted out.

()()()()()

Aqua cringed inwardly upon hearing that sharp tone. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But she'd already interrupted them, so it was too late to back away now. She turned the door knob and bravely entered the room.

"Aqua!" Larxene said sharply when she saw the girl's face, her eyes glinting in outrage, "I warned you never to interrupt-!"

"But this just arrived from the palace!" Aqua said, quickly talking over Larxene 's reprimand to get her bit in. She didn't want to be punished for something that wasn't _entirely _her fault. As the word, 'palace', flew from her throat, Yuna and Rikku ran towards her shouting, "The palace?" and ripped the letter from her hands, tearing off the protective envelope in two neat halves as they did so. Larxene calmly took the parchment from them.

"I'll read it." Larxene said with calm authority. "Oh! There's to be a ball."

"A ball?" Rikku and Yuna asked excitedly.

"In honor of his highness, Prince Drew!" Larxene said, getting excited for once.

"Prince Drew!" Yuna and Riku called out in excitement.

"And by royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend!" Larxene finished.

"Why that's us!" Rikku called out.

"Oh, imagine!" Yuna called out. "One of us could become a princess, and then a queen, and then a mother!"

"Ew!" Rikku groaned. "You actually _want_ kids?"

()()()()()

Sora and Riku stuck their tongues out in dislike at the stepsisters' vanity, not honestly believing that this prince guy would honestly dance with them out of all the women who would be present.

"Why that means I can go too!" Aqua called out with barely contained excitement.

"Her?" Rikku laughed as she pointed at Aqua. "Dancing with the prince?"

"I would be honored Your Highness." Yuna said in a high, mocking voice. "Would you mind holding my broom?"

Rikku and Yuna danced around and laughed. Aqua felt calm but agitated. She may have been treated as a servant for several years, but she still remembered everything her father had taught her about being a lady.

"Well... Why not?" She asked, finally standing up for herself. "After all, I'm still a member of the family. And it says, 'By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend.'"

"Yes..." Larxene said. "So it does."

Larxene smiled suddenly and said, "Well, I see no reason why you _can't_ go..."

()()()()()

Rikku and Yuna stopped smiling and stared at each other in shock. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Their mother was actually_ letting_ Aqua go to the ball? Impossible!

()()()()()

On the other hand, Aqua's heart was feather-light with happiness; she too, unable to believe her ears. Her stepmother was actually going to let her go? This was the first semi-kind act that she had shown to her since her father died.

"_If _you get all your work done," Larxene continued slowly.

"Oh, I will!" Aqua said ecstatically, "I promise-!"

"And... if you can find something suitable to wear..." Larxene finished.

"I'm sure I can," Aqua said reassuringly. Nothing was going to dampen her happiness, especially not something as trivial as that. "Oh, thank you, Stepmother," she said with a grateful smile on her lips as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

()()()()()

Sora and Riku left at the same time she did, wanting to help her right away. But if only they had stayed a second longer, they'd have learned that nothing had changed in the slightest.

()()()()()

Once the door clicked shut, Rikku rounded on her mother, who wore a knowing smile on her face.

"Mother! Do you realize what you just said?" Rikku demanded, still caught up in the shock of her mother's apparent change of heart.

"Of course," Larxene said softly, and explained to her two bewildered daughters, "I said 'if'."

And suddenly, everything made sense.

"Oh..." Rikku breathed as she turned to her sister and repeated that magic word, 'if'.

Both giggled with delight at how well their mother had so easily fooled their stepsister and Larxene chuckled at her own deceitfulness.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	6. Aqua's Gown

Chapter 6: Aqua's Gown

Aqua happily pulled out a white gown with short sleeves.

"Isn't it lovely?" Aqua asked her friends. "It was my mother's."

"It is being kind of old." Iris said, noting the fashion differences.

"Well, I guess it is a little old fashioned." Aqua admitted. "But I'll fix that."

"Uh... How?" Riku asked.

"With this." Aqua said as she picked up a book and flipped to a page showing the same gown but updated. "My father made these designs for when I'd have my cotillion."

"Oh, it's very nice!" Hikari complimented as she stared at the picture of the gown in the book.

"I like it." Sora said, with sincere approval in his voice.

"Oh, you can handle that, with no problems!" Iris said with a casual wave of her paw, but her tone was also very supportive of Sora's choice gown.

"Well, thank you, iris. Of course, it needs some work though." Aqua said thoughtfully as she started pointing to all the gown's features. "I'll have to shorten the sleeves... I'll need a sash... a ruffle, and something for a collar... And then a-" Aqua was stopped short, by her name being called from downstairs by Yuna. "Oh, now what do they want?" Aqua groaned as she looked back at the door, and stared at it bitterly. Now Rikku's and her stepmother's voices echoed Yuna's in calling her name, once again, ordering her downstairs. The mice looked between each other, each of them exchanging glances, though not a single one of them understood what the other had meant by the individual looks they had received.

"Oh well... I guess my gown is just going to have to wait." Aqua said sadly as she held the fabric in her fingers wishing, such as she had not done in the longest time, that her mother was still alive and had not left her father to such desperate actions. The shouts were getting more persistent now, and Aqua could no longer ignore the summons as she released her hold on the dress and strode down the stairs, muttering an, "Alright, alright, I'm coming."

"Poor Aqua." Sora groaned. "Every time she finds a minute, that's da time when they begin it! Aqua Fair! Aqua Fair!"

"Aqua Fair!" Aqua Fair's voice shouted before Sora kicked the door closed.

_Aqua Fair, Aqua Fair!  
Night and day, it's Aqua Fair!  
Make the fire! Fix the breakfast!  
Wash the dishes! Do the mopping!_

_And the sweeping  
And the dusting_

Iris and Hikari added with their own looks of disapproval on the stepfamily's treatment of their Aqua, the rightful owner of the estate.

_They always keep her hopping  
She's goin' 'round in circles  
'till she's a very, very, dizzy  
Still they holler..._

Sora had run around in a couple circles and gotten very dizzy on his own accord.

"_Keep her busy, Aqua Fair._" Iris and Hikari finished and sighed heavily in unison.

"Yeah, keep her busy." Sora said dejectedly as he kicked a thimble away. "You know what? Aqua isn't going to the ball."

"What?" Surane asked. "Not go?"

"What did you say?" Iris and Hikari asked.

"You'll see." Sora continued. "They've fixed her. Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done."

"Poor Aqua." Riku said sadly.

Iris felt dejected as well until she looked at the picture and got a brilliant idea.

"Hey, we can do it!" Iris called out.

_We can do it  
We can do it  
We can help our little Aqua  
We can make her dress this pretty  
There's nothing to it really_

Then the other mice started singing too, feeling the optimism that this plan might actually work, and the excitement that Raven might actually get to go to a ball if it did work.

_We'll tie a sash around it  
Put some ribbon through it  
When dancing at the ball  
She'll be more beautiful than all  
It's a lovely dress we'll make for Aqua_

Some of the birds flew in from the window, upon hearing the noise, and, hearing what the happy mice were going on about, decided to help out too.

_Hurry, hurry  
Hurry, hurry  
Gonna help our little Aqua.  
Got no time to dilly-dally.  
We've got to get this going._

"_I'll cut it with the scissors!_" Riku called out as he dragged a pair of scissors to the work area.

"_And I can do da sowing!_" Sora called out before Iris took the needle out of his hand.

"_Leave the sowing to the women. You go get some trimming._"

_And we'll make a lovely dress for Little Aqua.  
We'll make a lovely dress for Little Aqua._

"Plus, Sora is not being the good with the sewing." Iris said casually as Sora and Riku left.

()()()()()

"Hurry Riku!" Sora called out as he and Riku scurried down the mouse hole to look for trimmings for Aqua's dress.

Together, the two little mice scampered through the nooks and crevices that only they could fit through, Sora leading the way as Riku was still new and therefore, unfamiliar with the many passages through the large chateau. Sora had often suspected, with the numerous mini-passages. that the chateau had been the home of mice for several years, perhaps even before Aqua's father was born. But Sora was hardly complaining. It meant they could go literally everywhere without being seen by humans, more specifically Aqua's stepmother and stepsisters. He led Riku down some solitary string and, after scrambling over more uneven steps, approached a hinged piece of the wall. Loud noises were coming from the other end, so he made sure to only open it a sliver, so as not to attract suspicion.

The noise was caused by the two stepsisters, as usual, and Aqua stood between them, catching the clothes that Yuna and Rikku were throwing at her to wash or mend or whatever else it was that they wanted her to do, and Aqua was hard at work trying to catch them all.

"This sash is horrible for me!" Yuna called out as she tossed the sash to Aqua.

"Also Aqua, when you're done with that, I have a few things I need you to do." Larxene said calmly.

"Dang." Riku said as he watched Aqua leave.

But though Aqua had left, Yuna was not done complaining. "Mother, I don't understand why everybody else has nice things to wear!" Yuna said loudly. "And I always ends up in these old rags and... this sash!" She cried out as she flung the thing away from her like filthy sock, and the two mice watched with interest as it floated to gracefully to the floor. "I won't be seen dead in it!" She added in further protest and stalked away.

"You should talk!" Rikku shouted back. "These beads... I'm sick of seeing them!" She said finally as she threw them to the ground and kicked them away from her. "Trash!" She added as further insult while Sora and Riku could only admire their good fortune at finding materials so easily.

"Oh yeah." Sora said with a small smile.

And their luck was about to get even better, for once Larxene had left the room, Yuna and Riku had started following after her, complaining loudly at the top of their lungs in an attempt to over talk the other one and get their mother to understand the gravity of their current situation with no new "nice things" to wear. But they were courteous enough to close the door behind them which swung shut with a loud bang, and their complaints were muffled so well as to be nonexistent. Now was their chance.

"Alright Riku. Now we move." Sora said quietly as he jumped down to the floor. "Even though they're gone, we need to be really quiet so as not to alert them, or Vexen, or Raven."

"Why would it be a bad thing if we alert Aqua?" Riku asked as he too, jumped out of the mouse hole and landed on the floor beside Sora.

"Because the dress is gonna be a surprise." Sora whispered with a smile as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "We don't want her to get a whiff of what we're doin' beforehand. It'll just make her that much happier when she sees the finished product by the end of the day."

Riku was silent for a minute before he asked, "Did you just now decide that it was going to be a surprise dress?"

"No, me and Iris did that while you were grabbing the scissors." Sora explained.

"Oh." Riku said.

"But shush!" Sora said urgently. "We need to do this real carefully."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "_Real_ carefully."

The two mice moved from the baseboards on the wall to underneath a stool, and stared around again, seeing if anybody was coming. Nobody was, and it seemed the room was clear. However, Sora's and Riku's lives were in more danger than they suspected, for atop the stool, curled up into a ball, was the sleeping form of Vexen: their arch nemesis. But they weren't doomed yet, for as long as the jackal slept, they were safe.

They walked slowly towards the sash.

And when they finally reached the fabric, Sora held it out for Riku to touch.

"Hey Riku, bet you've never touched silk before. Feel how soft this is."

Riku took a corner of it into his paws and his eyes went wide as he felt it. "Oh wow!" He exclaimed, "It's like I'm holding water-!"

Sora suddenly slapped his paw over Riku's mouth to silence him, and pointed at the snoring lump of fur on the stool. "Look it's Vexen."

"Let's kick him in the pants!" Riku called out.

"Gar! Shush!" Sora cried out in panic as he grabbed his friend to prevent him from going to do that. "We have to be quiet! Besides, he's 1000 times our size!" He hissed frantically, "And we need to get the sash up to the girls so that we can make Aqua's dress."

"Alright," Riku said with a sigh, and grabbed a corner of the fabric. "So how are we gonna get past Ugly, over there?" He asked with a jerk of his head in Vexen's direction.

"We'll hide ourselves under it!" Sora called out, an idea slowly forming in his head. "And as we walk, it will roll up and then roll out until we hit the wall. Then we'll just pull it in, piece of cake!"

He was feeling the fire! It was a good plan. Something so good, that there was absolutely _nothing_ that could _possibly_ go wrong. Riku, however, wasn't feeling so optimistic. The last plan he had been involved in had nearly put him on Vexen's lunch menu and got Aqua into trouble. He was beginning to question the success rate of Aqua's plans. But they had to get the sash upstairs, and they really didn't have any other choice, so he decided to go with it.

They each picked up a corner and started pulling it along with them to the point where they had given the fabric a cylinder shape that they could run in. Everything seemed to be going okay. But of course, Fate had other plans.

()()()()()

Vexen half-opened one wary eye as the sash was going under the stool he was sleeping on, and he let it fall shut again... until he realized what he had just seen and was startled out of his peaceful nap. He watched with both curiosity and confusion as the sash rolled itself out from under his stool and towards the wall. Sashes weren't supposed to do that... at least, not any sashes _he_ had ever seen. Then the sash hit the wall... and two mice fell out from behind the sash. Vexen wasted no time in bounding over to the wall, keen at the prospect of having an afternoon snack.

()()()()()

Sora and Riku, seeing their oncoming doom, immediately shook off the dizziness that had set upon them when they crashed into the base board, jumped into the mouse hole, and started to quickly pull the sash into the hole with them.

()()()()()

Vexen, distracted from his original prey, focused on the sash and tried to catch it with his paws, but it was too quick and right when he was about to catch it... his muzzle ran straight into the open mouse hole. He growled out his frustration and pulled his snout out, twitching his now-irritated nose. There was a lot of dust and mouse fur behind that opening. Once he'd gotten that straightened out, he crouched down in front of the hole, and stared at it intently, waiting for the mice to come out again... his tail twitching sweeping along the floor as a sign of his pent-up excitement. But there was a sound: a squeak. Not a rodent squeak, but a metallic one. Like a creaky door whose hinges needed to be oiled. And the sound was coming from his right. He looked over, and saw the reason. Yet another mouse hole was opening up from out of seemingly out-of-nowhere in the wall. The mice were coming out of it.

()()()()()

Sora saw the other object they had set their eyes on: the beads, and pointed it out to Riku.

"Oh, right! The beads! We need the be-!" Riku exclaimed loudly and was silenced by Sora slapping his paw over his mouth.

But Vexen had heard them loud and clear, and now knew what they were after. He stood up and bounded over to the beads, sitting on them, and giving the mice a challenging feline smirk, daring them to come and get them.

Sora got a cunning plan and simply walked out. As Vexen prepared to scratch him to pieces with his claws, Sora walked past him and began biting the buttons off of a corset, humming the song Aqua was singing that morning. Vexen began to walk towards Sora with a wicked grin on his face. Sora really wished Tifa was allowed to beat the cat up, or at least that Zack was still around. He wasn't as picky about mice as everyone else. He was actually more like Aqua in that respect.

()()()()()

Riku began walking towards the beads when Vexen backed up and sat on them again. Riku quickly scurried back to the hole, and Vexen looked back at Sora with hopeless frustration. He wanted to catch the mouse ahead of him, and far away from its hidey-hole, but he didn't want the other mouse to get these beads either.

()()()()()

Meanwhile, Sora snapped off another black button with his teeth and laid it on top of his growing pile. But Vexen wasn't a complete moron. He started to scoot across the floor and was taking the beads away with him!

()()()()()

"Oh man! Sora, get out of there!" Riku shouted to his pal, but either Sora hadn't heard, or he was ignoring him, because he just continued what he was doing. Saliva started to build up in the feline's mouth as he neared his intended target. He raised a paw, ready to kill him with one fatal blow. But Sora hadn't been snapping buttons for nothing. With one button, he pushed down on the edge of another button, and it popped into the air, striking Vexen square on the nose, surprising him and leaving a nice button imprint upon his nose. Shock turned to anger, and with an angry growl, he launched himself at the mouse who had taken refuge in the nearby pile of clothes. But in his fury, Vexen forgot all about protecting the beads, and saw his chance. He leapt out and ran across the floor to go retrieve them, hoping that his friend wouldn't be killed in his attempt to distract the cat. Vexen's searching became less frantic as his anger cooled to some degree, and he started methodically searching for his prey; pulling the clothes apart in slow and easy, gentle strokes, keeping his eyes peeled for even the slightest movement.

()()()()()

Sora, however, was hiding on top of Vexen's head and watched as Riku tried to get the beads out, but he tripped and ended up smashing them into the wall.

"Ah no." Sora groaned. He then forced Vexen's eyes closed and jumped into the pile, exiting through the sleeve while Vexen simply got his head trapped inside of it.

Sora then helped Riku collect the beads as Riku inched nearer and nearer. Just as Vexen was about to pounce, Riku picked up the last bead, and they jumped into the mouse hole as Vexen slammed his face against it.

()()()()()

"Vexen!" Yuna's voice called out. "You bad cat! What are you doing in my nightgown?"

Vexen groaned. He knew his mistress wouldn't allow Aqua or Tifa to give him punishments, but with the sisters, and at this time, he was in big trouble.

"You bad cat!" Yuna said again as she pulled Vexen out the bottom of the nightgown. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson, and I don't care what Mom does to me!"

()()()()()

Riku and Sora, who had heard Yuna's announcement, snickered quietly, and went to go close the other mouse hole that they had left open earlier. Making sure Yuna wasn't paying attention; they closed it and scampered back to Aqua's room with the sash and the beads. Once there, they handed over said items to Iris and Hikari, but not without first telling the story of how they got them with some minor embellishments. Iris in particular was enthralled by Sora and Riku's daring courage and bravery.

But she shook it off after a few minutes and took the materials from Sora and Riku, ordering them to do something useful. "The dress is not going to be making itself, you are knowing?"

"All right!" Sora called out. "Vexen's getting a spanking, and Aqua's going to the ball!"

The mice and birds immediately set to work by first hanging string from the ceilings which would be used to help hoist materials up to the top of the dress. And as they worked, all of them started humming and singing the song that Aqua had sang this morning, hoping that maybe today was the day that their little Aqua's dreams would finally come true. They threw themselves into the work with earnest, and the first thing they did was they untightened the bottom of the dress so that it would flow and twirl about when Aqua spun around. Hikari and Iris were rolling out the fabric and marking the patterns with chalk while Sora, Vanitas, and Ventus were taking measurements and cutting what the girls had already marked. One time, Riku had nearly accidentally cut Iris's tail, to which she smacked him on the head for his carelessness. They didn't need any injuries to slow them down. The cloth, the lace, the cutting, the pinning, the sewing, they were going to do it all, and they only had half a day to get it all done, but they were determined. Their Aqua was _going_ to the ball and no stepmother or stepsisters were going to stop her.

"Hooray for Aqua!" Riku called out once they finished the dress.

()()()()()

That night, Aqua was in the second floor hallway as she looked out the window. She hadn't even had a second to work on the dress. She'd never be able to go to the ball. The clock tower at the palace started to bong loudly, and she raised her head slightly. The ball would be starting soon, and the carriages would be arriving to pick up the guests. The clock bonged an eighth time and then ceased. So it was 8 o'clock now, huh? She wondered... She heard the crunching of wheels upon the path before the front door, and she peered down. Sure enough the carriage had arrived. It must have left before 8 to get here this soon.

With a heavy sigh, she went to her stepmother's room and knocked on the door. It opened slowly, and Larxene appeared before the entrance, dressed in a very nice royal blue dress with bright pink lace on the sleeves.

"Yes?" She asked, with mild curiosity.

"The carriage is here." Aqua answered quietly, barely able to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"Oh," Larxene said with a great deal more interest, and opened the door wider as Raven quickly turned to leave. "Why Aqua, you're not ready, child." Larxene said softly with a gentle rebuke, as if Aqua had simply lost track of the time and forgot to get ready.

"I'm not going." She said quickly with as much dignity as she could muster, as if it had been her _own _decision to not go to the ball tonight.

"Not going?" Larxene asked well-played surprise, as she smiled in a knowing manner at her two daughters, who had appeared behind her, not quite ready, and were smiling triumphantly, trying their very best to not laugh. "But of course there will be other times, and-"

"Yeah, good night." Aqua interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore, and walked towards the tower stairs to head up to her room. Aqua looked out the window.

"Oh well." Aqua sighed. "What's a royal ball? After all, I bet it'd be really dull and boring and completely..." Aqua stopped. She could never lie, even to herself. She wanted to go, at the very least to maybe talk to an older nobleman about her father. Dancing around and for once since Zack's death, having fun. "Completely wonderful." She finished. Suddenly, a light shown, and the cupboard was opened by the mice and birds.

"Why it's my..." Aqua said as her mother's dress was not only modified but even more lovely than in the pictures of her mother that were taken before Aqua was born.

"Surprise!" Everyone called out. "Surprise!"

"Duh... Happy Birthday!" Riku called out.

"No, no, no!" Sora said exasperatedly.

"Why I never dreamed it could... It's such a surprise! How can I ever..." Aqua said as happy tears shed down her face. "Oh, thank you. Thank you all so much."

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	7. Bibidy Bobidi Boo

Chapter Seven: Bibidy Bobidi Boo

Meanwhile, downstairs in the rest of the house, Yuna and Rikku had finally finished getting ready wearing pink and green dresses respectively, and walking behind their mother in a single-file line.

"Now remember," Larxene said as a quick reminder to her daughters before she opened the door, "When you're presented to His Highness, be sure to-"

"Wait!" Aqua's voice shouted from the upstairs landing, and all three of them turned towards her, at the sound of her voice. "Please, wait for me!" She called again, halfway down the stairs as she said so and came upon the landing, breathless with nervousness and excitement. "Isn't it lovely? Do you like it?" She asked, referring to the dress, and then asked more anxiously, "Do you think it will do?"

To judge by the stunned expressions on Yuna's and Rikku's faces, the dress was perfectly alright. Even Larxene looked a bit... surprised, though her reaction was much more moderate than her stepsisters'. The mice, who had descended down the stairs with her but remained on the steps, could only smile with pride at their Aqua in the lovely dress that they had slaved over all day, in order to make it beyond (itlcs) perfect.

"Aqua?" Yuna gasped.

"Oh, she can't!" Rikku protested.

The two continued to wine like two spoiled babies before Pamela raised her hand.

"Girls, girls, please." Larxene said calmly. "After all, we did make a bargain, didn't we, Aqua?"

Aqua smiled as Larxene walked up to her.

"And I never go back on my word."

Aqua began to recoil a little, obviously fearing a more subtle way of stopping her.

Sora had his eyes narrowed as he doubted Larxene would be interested in the dress itself while Riku appeared to simply think that she was just being nice before he looked at Sora's face and switched his face to imitate Sora's.

"How very clever." Larxene said. "These beads, they give it just the right touch. Don't you think so, Rikku?"

"No, I don't! I think she's..." Rikku stopped mid-rant, as the full force of her mother's words sunk in, and she turned to Aqua, completely outraged. "Ah! Why you little thief!" She shouted accusingly.

Riku had had enough. That mean, old stepmother. He'd show her a thing or two. He moved to walk off the stairs, swinging his fists in a threatening motion, but Sora stopped him just in time by grabbing his tail, but Riku was about his size, so he was having a hard time pulling him back up.

()()()()()

"They're _my_ beads! Give them here!" Rikku yelled as she tore the necklace right off of Aqua's neck.

"No!" Aqua protested, both against the lie, and the action.

"Oh, and that's my sash too!" Yuna shouted. "Just because I didn't want it today didn't mean I was giving it to you!"

Yuna tore the sash off of Aqua's dress.

"Stop, please stop!" Aqua pleaded as they didn't just stop at the new additions but at parts of the dresses that were already there to begin with.

"Girls, girls." Larxene said calmly after awhile and opened the door. "That's quite enough. Come along now, both of you. I won't have you upsetting yourselves."

The three left, and Aqua looked at her ruined dress, not only her only way to go to the ball, not only the last solid evidence that she'd had a mother besides Larxene, but the only proof that there had been a good life at all in what was now the worst possible place to live after Zack had died. The only other pieces of evidence were Tifa, forced to sleep in the kitchen or outside, Axel, once a great stallion and now an old weathered horse, and the mice, who had worked so hard to help her. Aqua couldn't take it. She ran out of that cold, dark house that was, it seemed lifetime ago, a beautiful chateau where Aqua had played with a small puppy her father had just given her.

()()()()()

At a fountain in the back yard where Zack and Aqua would let Axe drink from, she fell on top of it and began crying.

_No matter how your heart is grieving,  
If you keep on believing,  
A dream that you wish,  
Will... Come... True..._  
"No, I can't dream." Aqua sobbed as that stupid song came into her head again. "Not anymore."

The mice, Tifa, and Axel, who had seen her run outside, and followed after her, heard these words, and their jaws dropped in shock. They had never heard her talk like this. She has always been hopeful and, though a little depressed at times, optimistic. It was heartbreaking to see her like this. And yet, there in the darkness, under the shade of the tree, a bright, misty light seemed to surround her, and draw together into a distinguishable form. They watched with both apprehension and wonder as the lights seemed to take on the form of a person, of all things. The only company Aqua seemed to want was that of the stone bench she was crying on.

The person had light brown hair with dark green eyes. She was dressed in a blue gown and had her hair in a high ponytail with a pink ribbon.

()()()()()

"Oh come on, Aqua." The woman said. "You can't have lost _all _hope. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here right now."

Aqua looked up, and gasped, too shocked to be able to do anything other than stare at the woman in front of her. Who was she? And how did she get here without her knowing.

"Come on, Aqua, dry those tears." The girl said with a soothing smile as she lifted her up by her elbows and brought her to her feet. "You can't go to the ball looking like that." She said with a slight pout, as an indication of Aqua's emotional breakdown.

"The ball?" Aqua asked, her eyes still puffy and red from crying, and she stared down at her torn dress. "Oh, but I'm not..."

"Of course you are!" The woman interrupted enthusiastically with such assurance, that Aqua couldn't help but believe in her, if only slightly. "But we must be quick, because even miracles take a little time." She added with a wink.

"Miracles?" Aqua asked blankly, still not sure what exactly was going on. Everything was just happening so fast. And she still had no idea who this woman was or where she had come from.

"Yup." The woman said. "Watch!"

She held out her hand when she suddenly stopped and looked at it.

"Oh shoot!" The woman called out. "I forgot my wand! Where'd it go?"  
"Wand?" Aqua asked. "As in a magic wand?"  
"You got it, kiddo." The woman said as she looked under the bench.  
"Why you must be my fairy godmother then!" Aqua said in awe. She remembered her father telling her stories about them.

"You've got it." The woman said. "My name is Aerith by the way."

"Aerith... Okay... Got it..." Raven said shakily, trying to remember everything and absorb it all.

"Darn it! Where is my wand?" Aerith shouted as she crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. But then her eyes lit up again, and she said, "Oh! I forgot! I put it away!" And from thin air, right in her hand, the air shimmered and a white wand appeared in her outstretched palm.

()()()()()

"Please tell me I'm not seeing things." Sora said as he rubbed his eyes and then continued to stare back at the staff.

"If you're seeing things, then so am I." Riku told him with the same dumbfounded expression.

()()()()()

"Now, let's see... hmm..." Aerith said thoughtfully with a slight frown as she started tapping her fingers on the top of her staff. Then she nodded once, and said at last, "I think the first thing you need is a... a pumpkin!"

"B-But... a pumpkin?" Aqua repeated, thinking about her ruined dress, since that was all she really needed, and wondering why on earth she needed a pumpkin.

"Yup." Aerith said. "Now what were those magic words? Oh yeah!"

_Saligadula, Magicabula,  
Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!  
Put them together and what have you got?  
Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!_

A nearby pumpkin then actually got up and started walking towards them on its vines.

_Saligadula, Magicabula,  
Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!  
It'll do magic, believe it or not.  
Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!_

The pumpkin stopped, and its vines began to grow out.

_Now Salagadulemeine,_

_And magical bue laroo…_

_But the thingamabob that does the job_

_Is Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!_

The extended vines twisted into wheels, and the pumpkin grew four times its original size to make a round white carriage with a door inside.

"Whoa, it's beautiful." Aqua gaped.

"Yes, isn't it?" Aerith said, smiling at her handiwork. "Now with a coach like that, we'll need some mice."

Axel gaped at what Aerith said and Aqua couldn't blame him. How were mice supposed to pull a carriage?

"Mice?" Riku asked in surprise as he, Sora, Iris, and Hikari gaped.

"Isn't it nice?" Aerith asked. "While have a coach with four when we're through. Just a wave of my stick, and to finish the trick Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo."

As the wand's magic hit the mice, Riku ran for it.

"Hey sorry little guy, but we need four." Aerith said. "Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo."

As the magic hit Riku, Vexen pounced on him, and all Vexen saw was a huge horse. Gar neighed angrily at Vexen, and he ran for it.

"Serves you right, Vexen!" Aqua called out after him.

"You know it, kiddo." Shayera said. "Now where were we? Oh yeah! You can't go to the ball without a…"

Aqua held up her dress, expecting her to get the hint, but apparently, she didn't.

"A horse!" Aerith said.

"Another horse?" Aqua asked.

Aerith pointed at Axel, and he floated up.

"But tonight, for a change, you'll handle the reins." Aerith said. "And sit in the driver's seat too. For instead of a horse, you'll be a coachman of course. Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo."

Axel turned into a red-haired human with with green like tear drops on the bottom of each eye and dressed as an elegant coachman.

"Well that does it I guess." Aerith said with a smile. "Except for… Oh yes. The finishing touch, and that's you."

Aqua closed her eyes, ready to be surprised by what she saw, but instead of her, she felt the magic pass just by her to… Tifa?

"Yes dear Tifa that's right." Shayera said. "You're foot-woman tonight. Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo."

And there stood Tifa by the carriage, dressed in a footman outfit, but with a dress instead of pants. She also had long black hair and a very lovely face, which made Aqua guess that she was normally very attractive to another dog.

"Well hop in, kiddo." Aerith said calmly. "We don't have much time."

"But-" Aqua began but aerith cut her off.

"Now don't thank me." Aerith said. "I've wanted to help you out ever since your dad died."

"Well I wasn't about to thank you just yet, it's just that… Well look at me." Aqua said as she gestured to herself. "Look at my gown."

"Yes, it's very lovely, my dear." Aerith said before she looked back. "Whoa! Good grief, what was I thinking? You can't go to the ball looking like that! You can't even go back inside looking like that!"

Aqua smiled. If Aerith was here more often, life would be much more fun.

"Now let's see." Aerith said as she used her wand to measure Aqua's arms legs, neck, torso, and head. "Get your size, and the shade of your eyes. Something simple, but daring too. Oh, just leave it to me! What a gown this will be! Bibidy-Bobidi-Bibidy-Bobidi-Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!"

Aqua was suddenly in a long white gown with a white cloak around her for warmth, with the sleeves covering her arms completely.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Aqua said happily. "Perfect! Did you guys ever see anything like this? Hey cool, glass slippers too."

Aqua showed them her foot, and they could see right through her shoes as they were made of the most perfectly shaped glass.

"It's like a dream." Aqua said. She couldn't stop smiling. "A wonderful dream that came true."

"Yes, my child." Aerith said in a somber tone. "But like all dreams, it can't last forever. You only have until midnight to-"

"Midnight?" Aqua asked calmly. "That's fine by me."

"Now just a minute kiddo, you have to pay attention." Aerith said firmly but kindly. "On the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before."

"I understand." Aqua said as she smiled. "It still more than I ever hoped for."

"Oh, you're such a sweet little thing." Aerith said. "Oh, what am I doing? It's getting late! Hurry up, dear. The ball can't wait! Have a good time! Dance! Be gay! Now off you go, you're on your way!"

_With a Bibidy-Bobidi-Bibidy-Bobidi-Bibidy-Bobidi-Boo!_

As Aqua waved good-bye to Aerith, she disappeared. Aqua smiled. This was still going to be a great day.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	8. So This is Love

Chapter Eight: So This is Love

At the palace, Roxas, Namine, and Hayner watched the prince being introduced to what had to be every girl in the kingdom. Every girl who walked up and bowed to him, Drew simply bowed politely.

"Well he's picky." Roxas said as he leaned back. "At least one of the girls he's seen so far would make a good mother."

"Your highness, Ex-nay on the other-may." Hayner said as Namine gave Roxas her infamous death glare.

"I mean a suitable wife." Roxas said quickly.

"You'd better." Namine groaned. Neither would ever hurt the other, but Namine was a bit more willing to push the barrier than Roxas.

At that point, Drew gave a brief yawn.

"Oh this is working perfectly." Hayner said sarcastically.

()()()()()

Aqua walked into the palace and gulped. It was pretty intimidating to enter the large doorway into the castle, flanked on both sides by motionless guards in blue and red. Aqua was sure she'd feel the same way even if she had arrived with the others. She walked to a large, grand staircase with red carpet stretching all across it.

()()()()()

"The Mademoiselles, Yuna and Rikku Anders, daughters of Lady Larxene Strife-Fair." The scribe said.

_Oh… Help me. _Drew thought with a groan as the two walked quickly up.

()()()()()

"Oh, help him." Roxas groaned as he saw the other two. Sure they were pretty, but they were about as pleasant as someone filing their nails on a chalk board.

"I give up." Namine groaned as she sat back in her chair. "This kid just isn't cooperating. It's just like when he was a kid, and just flung his peas all over the palace walls because he didn't want to eat them."

"Well I tried to warn you two." Hayner said smugly. "But you two are incurably romantic. No doubt, you saw the whole pretty picture."

Roxas and Namine sighed and looked down when they saw a girl of Aqua's age in a pure white gown and cloak walk around. The funny part was that while Hayner was talking, the exact same thing happened.

"Young Prince Drew bowing to the assembly." Hayner continued. "Suddenly, he stops and looks up. There she stands, the girl of his dreams. Who she is and where she came from, he doesn't know, and he doesn't care. His heart tells him that here is the maid predestined to be his bride. Nice fairy tale, your majesties, but it's a bit impractical in real-life."

"Impractical, huh?" Roxas said.

"Yup." Hayner said.

"Well take a look at that, Wally." Namine said as she showed Hayner the girl. By now, Roxas and the girl were holding each other's hands and talking.

"Who is she?" Roxas asked. "You know her?"

"Nope." Hayner said. "Never saw her before."

"Well the fresh face is one thing in her favor." Namine said. "Hey guys, the waltz!"

The band didn't hear her, so Namine stretched out further.

"Hey!" Namine said as she finally got their attention. "The waltz!"

"Namine." Roxas said quickly as he pulled Namine back onto the balcony as she was about to fall off.

"Okay, lights." Roxas said as he made a gesture to dim the lights.

The waltz was fairly lively as Namine and Roxas watched on.

As the waltz played, Drew and the girl danced slowly and gracefully.

"Failure, huh?" Namine said with a smile.

"Okay, I get it." Hayner said good naturedly.

"Well, now it's time for a good night's sleep." Roxas said as she stretched his arms.

"That goes double for me." Hayner said. "It feels like I haven't slept in days."

"Oh no." Namine said quickly. "You're staying right here to monitor those two. See that they aren't disturbed, and if Drew proposes, tell us at once. Also, if anything goes wrong, you're the new stable boy."

"Aw." Hayner groaned.

Roxas and Namine then danced down the hallway humming the tune of the waltz.

()()()()()

Larxene, Yuna, and Rikku were watching the pair in shock.

"Who is she, Mom?" Yuna asked as she stood on her tiptoes. "I can't get a good look at her face."

"Do you think we know her?" Rikku asked.

"Well the prince sure does." Yuna said. "Maybe she's an old school friend. All I know is that I've never seen her."

"Nor I." Larxene said calmly. "Yet there is something familiar about her."

Larxene tried to follow Prince Drew and the mysterious girl, but the grand duke, Hayner, closed the curtain.

"Hey, give the kids some privacy." Hayner said with a smile.

()()()()()

Aqua looked at the boy's face. It was so handsome and kind. She could just keep looking at him from now until doomsday, and she wouldn't mind. She had heard her father talk about what it was like when he first met Aqua's mother. She knew instinctively that this was the same thing.

_So this is love…_

_So this is love…_

_So this is what makes life divine._

_I'm all a glow,_

_And now I know, (And now I know…)_

_All that is heaven is mine…_

Drew looked at Aqua as the stopped dancing and simply began walking around. They stopped at a fountain and just looked into each other's eyes.

_My heart has wings._

_And I can fly._

_I'll touch every star, in the sky._

_So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of…_

_So this… Is… Love . . ._

Eventually, they sat down by a clock tower and were about to kiss when the clock began to chime twelve.

"Oh my goodness!" Aqua said in shock.

"What's the matter?" The man asked.

"It's midnight." Aqua said. She'd been having so much fun she'd completely lost track of time.

"Yeah." The man continued. "So?"

"Good-bye." Aqua said quickly.

"Good-bye?" The man asked as he continued to hold her arm. "No, wait. You can't go now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I have to." Aqua said as she tried to pull her arm free, half-heartedly, she had to admit. "Please."

"But why?" The man asked.

"Uh…" Aqua said as one look at the man's face, and her mind turned to the waltz again before she forced herself to think about how bad it'll look if she ends up in a tattered dress. "I haven't met Prince Drew yet!"

"Prince Drew?" The man asked blankly as if he'd never heard the name before. "But didn't you know that I'm-"

"Good-bye!" Aqua said just as what had to be the fifth or sixth bong of twelve struck.

"No wait, come back!" The man called out. "Please come back! I don't even know your name! How can I find you? Wait! Please wait!"

All this time, Aqua was running as fast as she could, which was surprisingly fast, especially for someone in a white gown with glass slippers on her feet.

"Bye." Aqua said as she passed a man with blond hair and green eyes.

"Later." The blond haired man said before his eyes widened. "Hey kiddo-"

Just then, the man came out.

"Wait!" The man called out.

Luckily, the man turned out to be quite popular as several girls suddenly surrounded him.

Aqua was running so fast down the staircase that one of the glass slippers came off of her foot, but she had no time to turn around and get it.

"Hey miss!" The blond man said. "Mademoiselle! Senorita! Frauline! Wait a second!"

Aqua hurried into the carriage as Tifa waved her in and hopped on as Axel cracked the reins, and the carriage took off with the king's guard following. But the spell was already wearing off. Aqua felt her cloak disappear off of her and saw her gown turn back into the ruins of her mother's dress. The coach became wobbly not because of the road, but because the carriage was turning back into a pumpkin. Then, with the finally bong of midnight, the horses were Sora, Riku, Iris, and Hikari again, the coachman was Axel, and Tifa was a dog again. They all hid in the forest by the side of the wood as their pursuers trampled the pumpkin.

With the excitement over, Sora went back to smiling like Yuna when she'd go out on a shopping spree.

"I'm sorry." Aqua said. "I kind of forgot about everything. Even the time, but it was so wonderful."

Axel smiled a horse's smile while Tifa panted happily.

"And he was so handsome, and when we danced, oh I'm sure that the prince himself couldn't have been more…"

Sora, Riku, Iris, and Hikari listened happily as they each held each other's shoulders.

"Oh well." Aqua said with a sigh, returning to her normal self. "It's over."

Aqua stood up.

"Aqua, look!" Sora called out as he pointed at Aqua's foot. "You've still got your glass slipper!"

"Oh…" Aqua said in awe as she picked the glass slipper up and smiled at it. She then looked up to the heavens and said to Aerith, wherever she may be. "Thank you. Thank you so very much for everything."

This was the best night of Aqua's life.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	9. The Glass Slipper

Chapter Nine: The Glass Slipper

Hayner braced himself for what was to come and started.

"Your majesties, I don't think this is the time to beat around the bush, so here it is." Hayner said as he practiced telling Roxas and Namineabout what had happened. "I'm sorry, but the young lady disappeared. The only thing she left behind was a glass slipper."

Hayner gulped. He was sure Roxas would understand, but Namine was another matter.

"Well, here goes nothing." Hayner gulped as he opened the door and heard Namine giggle.

"Wow." Hayner said. "I wonder what's going on."

()()()()()

Namine was dreaming.

_**She was playing with her two grandchildren, a boy and a girl. They both had Drew's eye and hair color while the girl looked more like her mother.**_

"_**Oh, who are the cutest little grandchildren in the world?" Namine asked with a smile as she gently tickled the two children's stomachs.**_

"_**Your majesty?" Namine' grandson asked.**_

Namine woke up to see Hayner at the door.

"Oh, Hayner!" Namine said happily. She knew what this meant. "Roxas, get up."

"Uh…" Roxas groaned as he got up. "Oh, hey Hayner. Come on in."

"Uh… Hello." Hayner said as he walked in and Namine rushed to Hayner. She couldn't wait to hear the good news.

"So Drew's proposed already, has he?" Namine asked happily. "Oh, my little baby's getting married. Roxas, give him a cigar. No give him two. Oh what the heck? Give him a whole box. We'll probably have to practice handing those out pretty soon, huh?"

"Namine, we don't smoke." Roxas reminded Namine patiently.

"Oh yeah." Namine said. "Well don't leave me in suspense, Wally. Who is this girl? Where does she live?"

"I didn't get a chance to figure out." Hayner said.

"Oh well." Namine said. "I can do that later. We'll just discuss the really important things. Arrangements for the wedding and meeting her family. Oh, Roxas! Let's make it a national holiday."

"Okay, Namine." Roxas said calmly. "Just slow down. First things first."

Roxas reached over to a sword held over the fireplace. It had the family crest, a stylized S inside of a diamond in the middle of the hilt.

"For you my friend, knighthood." Roxas said. "You've been with us through thick and thin, even when you believed we were being crazy."

"Actually, I don't deserve it." Hayner said, seizing the opportunity.

"What do you mean?" Namine asked. She didn't like that look in Hayner's eyes.

"Look, your majesties, she left." Hayner said.

"She left?" Namine asked angrily as she turned as red as as the fire in her eyes.

"Why you… You… Traitor!" Namine shouted. "When I'm done with you, you'll be lucky to be working on this continent! Roxas, give me your sword!"

"Namine, calm down." Roxas said as he put the sword away. "I'm sure there's more to this."

"More to it?" Namine asked. "More to it? The only woman in the whole kingdom that our son likes high-tailed it out of here, and it was Hayner's job to make sure he didn't! He should be put in jail! Deported! Given over to my dad and shot!"

"I tried to get her back, but she vanished into thin air." Hayner pleaded.

"Yeah right, and Roxas came from outer space!" Namine spat.

"Look, the prince loves her, and he's determined to marry her." Hayner said quickly. "He told me so."

"What?" Namine asked after a second.

"Drew fell in love with the girl, and when she disappeared, she left behind this glass slipper." Hayner said as he held the slipper up. "Drewsaid that he'd only marry the girl whose foot fit in this slipper."

"Oh, you beautiful man!" Namine called out and kissed Hayner on the cheek. "Oh, Drew gets the girl of his dreams, and Roxas and I get grandchildren before we kick the bucket."

"But, that slipper could fit anybody." Hayner pointed out.

"Clearly, you don't know shoes." Namine said. "It's not too big and not too small. I wouldn't be surprised if only one woman in the whole kingdom could fit into this."

"Maybe we're looking for Goldie Locks." Hayner joked.

"Wally, that was uncalled for." Roxas pointed out.

"Sorry." Hayner said.

"Well Mr. Smart Mouth," Namine said. "Why don't you perform the little foot fitting?"

"Me?" Hayner asked.

"You try this on every girl in the kingdom if you have to." Namine said. "If the shoe fits, we've got our son's bride."

"But what if I don't find her?" Hayner asked.

"Say hello to taking care of the dogs." Namine said as she handed the slipper to Hayner.

"Look, I know you're excited about the idea of-"

"It's just not having grandchildren, Hayner." Namine pointed out. "If we just wanted that, we could have arranged a marriage. This is about finding someone to make Drew happy."

"We're trusting you with this, Hayner." Roxas said calmly. "Can you handle it?"

"You know it, your highness." Hayner said with a smile.

Hayner then walked off, figuring it was best to start as soon as possible. It was going to be a _long_ night.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	10. Finding the Girl that fits the Slipper

Chapter 10: Finding the Girl that fits the Slipper

The next morning, Aqua was in very lively spirits. Her night at the ball was just the recharge she needed. She was so happy she could wash all the laundry in an hour.

"Aqua?" Larxene asked from the entrance of the chateau. "Aqua? Aqua? Oh where is that girl?"

"What?" Aqua asked.

"My daughters, where are they?" Larxene asked.

"I think they're still in bed." Aqua said.

"Oh." Larxene groaned. "Well don't stand there gawking, child! Bring up the breakfast trays at once, and hurry!"

"Okay." Aqua said. Larxene really needed to relax.

"I wonder what's going on." Sora said.

"Me too." Riku said.

"Me three." Aqua said to herself as she got the breakfast trays ready.

()()()()()

In Rikku's bedroom, Larxene practically threw the door open.

"RIkku!" Larxene called out. "RIKKU!"

"No Mommy, I don't wanna go to the horse races." Rikku said sleepily before Larxene shook her awake. "What?"

"Get up this instant!" Larxene said as she pulled open the shades and nearly blinded Rikku. "We haven't a moment to lose."

Larxene then walked into Yuna's room.

"Yuna?" Larxene asked. "Yuna?"

Larxene violently shook Yuna awake.

"Get up, Yuna!" Larxene said agitatedly.

"Oh, the silver mice are eating all the cheese!" Yuna said with a start as she woke up. "Oh. Hi Mom. What's up?"

"Everyone in the kingdom's talking about it!" Larxene said as she pulled back the drapes. "Hurry now, they'll be here any minute!"

"Who will?" Rikku asked with a yawn as she scratched her rear end.

"The grand duke and his ward!" Larxene explained impatiently. "They've been hunting all night."

"Hunting for what?" Yuna asked with a yawn as she sluggishly got out of bed.

"For that girl!" Larxene snapped. "The one who lost her slipper at the ball last night. They say he's madly in love with her."

"The duke?" Yuna asked. "Seems kind of old for her."

"No, no, no!" Larxene said angrily. "The prince!"

"The prince?" Aqua's voice said as there was a sudden crash.

Larxene turned around to see a shocked Aqua standing there with the ruins of the trays and dishes laying there.

"You clumsy oaf!" Larxene shouted. She'd never understand how her last husband could handle the girl. "Clean that up now and then help my daughters dress!"

"What for?" Rikku sighed. "Prince Drew already decided that he's going to marry whoever he danced with last night."

Rikku and Yuna then snuggled into Yuna's bed and went back to sleep. Larxene lost her temper and pulled the covers off as both girls felt it and shielded their behinds with their hands.

"Now listen you two!" Larxene snapped. "No one, not even Prince Drew, knows who that girl is. The only clue is that glass slipper. The Grand Duke Hayner has been ordered to try the slipper on every girl in the kingdom, and if the slipper fits, than by the king's command, that girl will be Prince Drew's bride.

"His bride." Larxene heard Aqua breathe.

"HIS BRIDE?" Rikku and Yuna asked as they jumped out of bed.

"Aqua, get my pink cocktail dress!" Rikku snapped. "I can't get engaged to the prince in my sleep in jammies!"

"Never mind her!" Yuna shouted back. "Help me find my purple tube top and skirt!"

Yuna and Rikku both began talking at once and piled clothes after clothes on Aqua's arms, but the girl seemed to have become a doll. She just stood there smiling like an idiot.

"What's the matter with her?" Yuna asked.

"Wake up stupid!" Rikku snapped. "We need to get ready for the duke!"

"Get ready for the duke?" Aqua asked. "Oh yeah. We've gotta get ready for the duke."

Aqua then handed Yuna the bundle of clothes and walked off in the direction of her bedroom.

"Did she lose her marbles?" Yuna asked as she pulled out her chosen outfit and tossed the bundle to Rikku.

"Hey!" Rikku snapped. "What's wrong with Aqua today? She hasn't been this out of it since her old man gave her that stupid puppy."

"Quiet!" Larxene said quickly as she listened. Aqua was humming the waltz from the ball, and she noticed the way Aqua was moving, exactly how the girl who danced with the prince had. She understood now. Aqua had obviously hid a dress and simply gone to the ball after them… Somehow. She had always disliked Aqua. The girl was ruined by that foolish man she'd married, playing with filthy horses and dogs like any common peasant, so that was way Larxene treated her like a peasant, because she was one. She wouldn't let a country bumpkin like her ruin her daughters' chance at riches and a respectable life for a woman. She knew what she had to do.

()()()()()

"What's she gonna do?" Riku asked as he and Sora watched Larxene follow Aqua up the stairs.

"Shh!" Sora said. "I don't know, but we've gotta get up there fast."

Sora and Riku then jumped into a mouse hole and rushed upwards.

()()()()()

Aqua couldn't believe it. She was going to marry the man of her dreams. She didn't care that it was Prince Drew. She would have been happy if he was simply the palace's stable boy. He dreams were finally about to come true.

_I can't wait to see Drew again._ Aqua thought when she realized she was already referring to Drew as Drew instead of Prince Drew. Well, she guessed that was natural seeing as how they were going to be spending the rest of their lives together.

In her room, Aqua was combing her hair when Sora and Riku rushed in.

"Aqua!" Robin called out. "Aqua!"

"Get outta here!" Riku called out.

After they got on her vanity, Aqua noticed them at last.

"What's wrong?" Aqua asked.

Aqua then looked in the mirror and saw Larxene closing the door. Aqua rushed to keep it open, but it was too late. Not only did Larxene close the door, but she locked it, and there was no other way out of the tower except by flying out, and Aqua knew that there was no way in heaven or on earth to do that.

"No please!" Aqua begged Larxene. "You can't do this! Let me out! YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE!"

()()()()()

Sora and Riku crawled out from under the door and watched as Larxene walked off.

"Why that jerk!" Riku called out. "She can't do that to Aqua!"

"Calm down, Riku." Sora said. "Getting squished by that old hag isn't the answer."

"Well we have to do something!" Riku protested.

"I know." Sora said. "We have to get that key, Riku. We just have to get that key."

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	11. One Slipper, Three Sisters

Chapter 11: One Slipper, Three Sisters

Hayner was sleeping for a few seconds in the carriage as his cousin Tidus looked at the driver. When he stopped at an old chateau, Terra smiled.

"HAYNER WAKE UP, WE'RE AT THE NEXT HOUSE!" Tidus called.

"AH!" Hayner shouted and nearly dropped the slipper. "Don't do that, Tidus!"

"Sorry." Tidus said with a smile. "Couldn't resist."

()()()()()

"There it is." Sora said as the carriage pulled up. "The carriage."

"What's the big deal about a carriage?" Riku asked.

"It's the grand duke's carriage!" Sora exclaimed angrily. "We have to get that key, quick!"

"Right!" Riku said. "How?"

But how they were going to do that, Riku didn't know as Yuna and Rikku rushed up in their best dresses.

"Mom, the Grand Duke's here!" Yuna said excitedly. "I'm so excited! I just don't know what I'll do!"

"Maybe practice being a sore loser?" Rikku asked with a smirk.

"Girls calm down." Larxene said calmly. "Now remember, this is your last chance. Don't fail me."

Sora knew just what Larxene wanted. A nice rich nobleman, namely Prince Drew, for a son-in-law she could mooch more money out of.

Larxene opened the door as a young man of Aqua's own age with green eyes and blond hair was there with a pillow that obviously had the glass slipper.

"Hello." Tidus said. "Announcing his imperial grace, my cousin Hayner the Grand Duke."

"Hello." Hayner said as he walked up.

"You honor our humble home, your honor." Larxene said with a slight curtsey.

"Um… Okay." Hayner said. He then coughed a little to clear his throat.

Sora and Riku looked at the main hall from a corner. Only two girls and not a lot of time.

"Allow me to present my daughters, Rikku and Yuna." Larxene said as both girls curtseyed.

"Your grace." Yuna said with a smile.

"…O… Kay…" Hayner said as he blinked several times. "Nice to meet you two."

"Wally, you've gotta read the royal proclamation now." Tidus reminded him.

"Right." Hayner said as he took a role of parchment and unrolled it. "'All loyal subjects of their majesties, King Roxas and Queen Namine, are hereby notified by notified by royal proclamation that…'"

While Hayner talked, Sora and Riku climbed onto a nearby vanity Larxene was close to, and Sora looked at her to figure out where the key was.

"'Glass slipper.'" Hayner finished the first section as Bart took the cloth off to reveal Aqua's slipper. "'It is upon this date that-'"

"Why that's my slipper." Rikku said in an obvious feign.

"Oh that's nice!" Yuna spat. "It's my sister."

"No it's not!" Riku shouted from behind a tea cup that was giving the two cover. "It's Aqua's slipper!"

Sora pulled Riku back and put his black jacket over Riku's mouth.

The two were about to squish poor Tidus before Larxene intervened.

"Girls, girls." Larxene said with only the slightest hint of venom in her voice. "Remember your manners. A thousand pardons your grace. Please continue."

"Right." Hayner said as he made sure Tidus was behind him. "'It is upon this day decreed that a quest be instituted throughout the land for…'"

As Hayner started talking again, Sora and Riku left their cover, and Sora noticed that the right hip pocket of Hayner's venom green dress, there was a lump. That just had to be the key. Sora pointed it out Riku. He then quickly planned with Riku that Sora would push the key out, and Riku would pull. Sora then headed off and managed to make it into the pocket. He then began to lift the key out of the pocket when Larxene was about to put her hand in the pocket. Riku pointed this out to Sora, and he quickly rushed back to the bottom as Larxene felt the key and then patted her pocket, causing the key to knock into Sora's head, repeatedly.

()()()()()

"And that's it." Hayner said as he rolled up the parchment. "Can I have a seat?"

"Of course, your grace." Larxene said.

"Got it." Tidus said as he took a modest wooden chair that Hayner plopped right into.

"You must be quite fatigued your grace." Larxene said as she took a pot and tea cup, which turned out to have Riku inside of it. "May we offer you some tea?"

"No thanks." Hayner said. "I'll be alright."

Riku sighed with relief. That was a close one.

"We've gotta proceed with the fitting." Hayner said.

"Of course." Larxene said calmly. "Yuna, dear?"

"On it." Yuna said with a smile as she sat down.

"Hey, if this doesn't fit, call me sometime." Tidus said as he took off the shoe she was wearing and prepared to fit the other one on.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll fit fine." Yuna said. Bart fitted it on, and it appeared to fit perfectly.

"There." Yuna said happily. "I know it was my slipper. I was looking for it all last night. Exactly my size. I always wear-"

Tidus then pulled the leg up to show everybody, and it turned out that the foot that the slipper was in was too small. The slipper was about one-size too big.

"Um… It's cold out, so maybe my foot shrank?" Yuna offered meekly.

While this commotion was going on, Sora and Riku had managed to take the key out of Larxene's pocket and moved it to the table.

"Mom that can happen right? … Right?" Yuna asked meekly.

"Quiet my dear." Larxene said calmly. "We mustn't wake the duke. Young Man, are you sure you're trying it on the right foot?"

"What is her foot one size bigger on the other?" Tidus asked.

"No." Yuna said.

"So how about that call?" Tidus asked.

They then slid down the leg of the table with the key, just making it to the bottom without incident.

"Okay, Riku." Sora whispered. "Up the stairs."

"Mm…" Riku said weakly at the site of the stair case in front of them.

"Come on, Riku, we have to." Sora said authoritatively as he and Riku each took an end and slowly but surely moved the key up the stairs. Once or twice, Riku very nearly fell off the stairway, but finally, they made it to the talk, Hayner apparently still sleeping as they didn't hear Rikku complaining yet.

()()()()()

"AH-CHOO!" Yuna called out as they waited for Hayner to wake up, and that did the trick.

"Where's the canon?" Hayner asked before realizing where he was. "So, does the slipper fit?"

"No." Yuna sulked.

"Alright, next girl, please." Hayner said calmly.

()()()()()

"Did you hear that?" Sora asked in alarm. "They're already onto Rikku. We've gotta run!"

"Run?" Riku whimpered.

Riku was so exhausted that he was barely able to follow Sora with his end of the key as they rushed off. At the stairs, Sora pointed up.

"Okay, up we go." Sora said.

"What?" Riku shouted as he looked at the unbelievably high _and_ rickety staircase. Riku couldn't take the stress and passed out.

"Riku!" Sora called out. "Riku, wake up! Don't worry pal. It's not that bad. Come on now."

They then used their stair climbing strategy again, but this time, they couldn't hear what was going on down stairs. They could only hope they made it to Aqua's room in time.

()()()()()

Aqua was crying at the door when she heard a grunting and groaning from outside and saw through the key hole, Sora and Riku pulling the key to the flat where her room was.

"We're coming, Aqua!" Sora called out.

"You got the key!" Aqua called out happily. "I can't believe it! You actually got the key! How did you ever manage-?"

At that point Vexen put a large bowl over Riku and the key!

"Vexen!" Aqua called out. "Vexen, let him go!"

Vexen just snickered.

"Please, you have to let him go!" Aqua called out.

"Let him go, you crazy cat!" Sora shouted as he jumped onto Vexen's tail and bit it, causing Vexen to squeal and jump up, howling in pain as Riku was still under the bowl, but before he could get out, Vexen landed and caught the mouse. Just then, Iris, Hikari, and Surane charged at Vexen with a fork, a knife, and a candle. Vexen simply knocked Surane and Hikari away, and when Iris charged with her candle, Vexen simply blew it out. The birds then brought several plates and dishes from the kitchen and crashed them on Vexen's head. Vexen leapt after them, temporarily freeing Riku, but no sooner had he picked up the key and prepared to get to Aqua, then Vexen put the bowl right back on top of him.

Aqua knew it was over now. She wished that her stepmother never brought any stupid cat into the chateau. Tifa never liked Vexen, not even as a puppy when animals were more trusting, and then it dawned on her.

"Tifa." Aqua breathed. "Tifa! Get Tifa! Hurry!"

()()()()()

The birds heard this and flew down to find Tifa resting in the backyard when they pulled on her ears and tweeted. TIfa was confused at first. What was going on? Then when the birds explained the situation and how Aqua could finally be happy, Tifa was ready and willing to do what she could to help Aqua. Tifa rushed into the house.

()()()()()

While all this was going on, Tidus had been talking with Yuna instead of putting the slipper on Rikku.

"So, after we find this mystery girl, how about I take you to this great bakery shop me and the prince go to?" Tidus asked.

"Ooh, direct, aren't you?" Yuna asked.

"Hey!" Rikku snapped. "I'm not getting any younger, here!"

"Tidus, meet women on your own time, Cous." Hayner said with a sigh.

"Sorry." Tidus said.

Tidus walked up to Rikku with the slipper, but it wouldn't fit. This time, Rikku's foot was too big. A good four times too big. Tidus shrugged when Rikku slammed her fist on top of his head and pushed him away.

"Of all the stupid little idiots!" Rikku said. "I'll do it myself! I'll make it fit!"

After a few minutes of struggling, the foot fit into the slipper, with the middle of her foot looking like a small bridge.

"There." Rikku said which Yuna couldn't really see. That wasn't exactly fair of her to force her whole foot into the slipper.

"It fits!" Larxene said with glee.

"It fits?" Hayner asked skeptically. He was right to be skeptical because at that moment, Rikku's foot un bent, and the slipper went flying into the air before Hayner just managed to catch it before it smashed onto the floor.

"Oh your grace, I'm dreadfully sorry." Larxene said. "It won't happen again."

"You better believe it, lady." Hayner said with a weak sigh.

()()()()()

Tifa ran the last few flights of stairs and arrived at Scat's position. She growled angrily, catching Vexen's attention and roared. Tifa chased Vexen up to the window where he jumped and fell.

The mice then lifted the cage off of Riku.

"Come on, Riku." Sora said. "You're safe now."

"No!" Riku squeaked. "I don't wanna die!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Sora shouted. "LET GO!"

Sora managed to pry Riku off of the key and slid it to Aqua.

()()()()()

Hayner and Tidus were ready to leave after a few minutes.

"So you're the only ladies in the household I hope, I mean I presume?" Hayner asked.

"I assure you, your grace, no one else lives here." Larxene said stiffly. If her daughters didn't get the prince, nobody ever would, especially not that little brat, Aqua.

"Alright, see you later." Hayner said before a horribly familiar voice sounded from the stairs.

"Your grace?" Aqua asked from the top of the stairs. Your grace, please wait."

Aqua rushed down the stairs.

"May I try the slipper on?" Aqua asked.

"Oh, pay no attention to her!" Larxene said quickly.

"She's nobody." Rikku said.

"Just our step-sister, Aqua." Yuna added. "She spends all day in this house."

"She wasn't even at the ball." Rikku countered.

"Yes, she's just an imaginative little girl." Larxene said.

"Mrs. Strife-Fair, my orders were 'Every maiden in the kingdom.'" Hayner said calmly. "Also, shorten your name. Come here, madam."

Hayner escorted Aqua to the chair and sat her down as he beckoned to Tidus. He rushed over, but Larxene wasn't about to give up without a fight. She put her foot out, and Tidus tripped right over it, losing the slipper, and the slipper then crashed right on the floor.

"Oh man." Hayner groaned. "I'm gonna spend the rest of my life cleaning up after the royal horses. What will the king say? What will the queen _do_?"

Larxene smiled smugly.

"Well, if it'd help, I've got something." Aqua said.

"What?" Hayner said. "Because unless it's the other slipper, it's game over, man."

"Well luckily I do have the other slipper." Aqua said with a smile as she pulled the other glass slipper out from her pocket. Larxene gasped. That little brat the eventually queen of the entire kingdom?

"Well that makes this pointless, but, why not?" Hayner asked, and he fit the glass slipper on Aqua's foot.

It was perfect.

"Aw, nuts." Yuna groaned.

"This isn't fair!" Rikku whined. "I'm the prettiest one!"

"Ha!" Yuna laughed.

"HEY!" Rikku snapped.

"Girls…" Larxene groaned. "SHUT UP!"

Both Rikku and Yuna stared blankly at their mother.

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


	12. Dreams Come True

Chapter Twelve: Dreams Come True

Aqua met Drew once again at the palace, and they both recognized each other immediately.

"You!" Drew said as he rushed up and kissed Aqua. "Please tell me your name."

"I'm Aqua." Aqua said with a smile.

"Aqua, will you marry me?" Drew asked.

"Yes." Aqua sighed.

"Great." Drew said. "Allow me to introduce my parents, King Roxas, and Queen Namine."

"Hello." Roxas said kindly.

"So you're the mystery girl." Namine said with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, your highness." Aqua said with a smile.

"You can just call me, Namine." Namine said as she shook Aqua's hand.

Tifa then jumped out and barked as she sniffed the room.

"Tifa, no." Aqua said.

"Oh, you have a dog too?" Drew asked. "Cloud, here boy."

A golden blond dog with the royal family crest on his collar walked in and he and Tifa sniffed each other and began licking each other.

"Aw." Everyone said.

()()()()()

A month later, Aqua and Drew were married. Sora, Riku, Surane, Hikari, and Iris had all moved into the palace, and they threw rice down to celebrate. Tifa and Cloud ended up going with them as well as they both whined at them. As they left for the carriage, Aqua lost her shoe again. She really needed to buy some of her own. Roxas picked the shoe up and put it on her foot for her as Aqua hugged him and left. After throwing the bouquet, Aqua and Drew waved good-bye to everyone for a few weeks as their carriage, led by Axel, rode away.

_A dream is a wish your heart makes,_

_When you're fast asleep._

_In dreams you will lose your heartache._

_Whatever you wish for, you keep._

_Have faith in your dreams and someday,_

_Your rainbow will come smiling through._

_No matter how your heart is weeping,_

_If you keep on believing,_

_The dream that you wish, will… Come… True . . ._

(Or is it just the beginning?)

* * *

Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and Drew belongs to RedDiEnd.


End file.
